V. Sattui?

I, and probably half the wine drinking world, have probably dismissed V. Sattui as being totally a tourist attraction not worthy of wine drinkers time and efforts. A recent visit to the tasting room has convinced me that the time has come to reassess this opinion.

And if you look at their vineyard sources, this makes total sense. They have wonderful vineyards in Rutherford, Russian River Valley, Carneros and throughout northern California wine country. If you can't make good wine from these sources, you should hand in your winemakers certificate.

What turns off most wine lovers is their business plan, they have a wine for all tastes, including muscats, gamays and the whole enchilada of what are considered non-serious wines. Skip those and go right to the locally produced, vineyard designated wines. These are quite good and represent some of the best values in the entire Napa Valley.

I loved their Carneros Merlot, the Russian River and Dry Creek Valley Zins and the numerous cabs from Rutherford. These wines were all about $50 and under. And everything is sold Direct to Consumer so these products are not available elsewhere. As a side note, even you you don't want to taste their wines, they have the best, and best priced cheese store and deli in the valley. Food for thought.